Sailboat winches are used for the tensioning or easing of sheet or halyard lines under considerable load forces from sails attached to the line or rope. The basic winch consists of a center support with ratchets, gears, and an attachment to support a removable cranking handle to rotate a spool about the center support. The spool consists of a base, drum and flange wherein the drum is configured to be narrower than the base and flange and is capable of accepting multiple turns of rope or line for its retrieval. The base, having a much wider diameter than the drum, curves into the drum sharply. The drum is in turn slightly conical being narrower at the base end than the flange end. This configuration aids in keeping the turns of rope on the drum from interlocking and fouling. The ratchet mechanism keeps the spool from rotating in more than one direction which, of course, is a necessary characteristic of any winch which is intended to retrieve line under tension.
In operating a winch upon a sailboat, line is wrapped around the spool in the direction in which the spool can be cranked and the line or rope is wrapped about the drum area between the base and flange a multiple number of turns depending upon the intensity of the load presented by the sail attached to the load end of the line or rope. Once these multiple turns are made, the sail can be controlled by cranking the handle which provides sufficient leverage to increase or diminish tension upon the sail through the load end of the line or rope. The free end of rope is called the tail and tension can be eased upon the sail by removing tension from the tail end and letting the turns of rope slip around the drum. The winch, itself, is incapable of turning to release tension because of the ratchet mechanism recited above.
From the above discussion, it is quite evident that a certain degree of tension must be kept on the tail end of the line to keep it in position or to bring more line in by cranking. The more turns about the drum, the less tension is necessary on the tail end to keep the turns from slipping although some tension must be kept on the tail end of a line under load to keep it from unraveling from the drum. The maintaining of tension on the tail end of a line under load which is tensioned by cranking is called "tailing" the line. The tailing operation is best carried out by someone other than the operator who is cranking the winch handle for it is awkward and slow for a single person to perform both functions noting that it often takes both hands to crank the winch when the load is great. Also, the operator, if attempting to perform both functions, must stop cranking to shift his grip on the tail end of the line when he approaches the end of his reach. Furthermore, it is quite difficult to keep one's balance on a pitching and rolling sailboat when both hands are occupied in different tasks.
Recognizing the problems recited above, there exists devices known as mechanical "self-tailing" winches. Such devices usually have a shorter drum and thicker flange than standard winches and have a V-shaped groove configured within the flange giving the flange the appearance of a fan belt pulley. The width of the V-shaped groove is designed to accomodate the thickest lines to be used on the particular winch and the groove is ridged to aid in gripping the rope or line.
When the tail end is wrapped into the V-shaped groove of the mechanical self-tailing winch and tension is applied from the load end, the tail end of the line is held quite strongly by the groove and cams. As tension is increased upon the line, the line slips deeper within the groove and gripping increases. These winches are further equipped with a fairleading mechanism designed to feed the line from the drum into the groove at a predetermined point and to direct the line out of the groove at a second point before the tail end completes a full 360.degree. turn. The fairleads are superimposed upon the flange and are attached to the center support section of the winch and remain in a specific fixed position when the spool is rotated.
Although mechanical self-tailing winches perform adequately, they cost considerably more than nonself-tailing winches. Furthermore, it has been found that the fairleads atop the winch tend to foul lines when they have to be released quickly. Depending upon their particular construction, many fairleads demonstrate the tendency to catch and tear clothes and sails and present a potential danger to the operator of the mechanical self-tailing winch.
Realizing the disadvantages inherent in the mechanical self-tailing winch, another product which has recently appeared is called the "WINCHER", marketed by Watski of Scandinavia. The "WINCHER" is a molded rubber cap, designed to fit tightly over the flange of a standard winch. The rubber cap looks much like the V-grooved flange which is possessed by the mechanical self-tailing winches described previously while the bottom of the cap possesses an opening so that it might fit upon the spool of an existing non-self-tailing winch. Naturally, the top of the cap has a smaller hole allowing the winch handle to pass therethrough. The groove and lower edge of the cap just cover the uppermost part of the drum nearest the flange and the upper edge is intended to fit tightly over the flange.
When using the "WINCHER", an operator must first bring in the line by hand until the load becomes sufficiently intense to require the use of the crank. At this point, the operator would wrap the line in additional turns around the drum of the winch until the final turn is pressing against the rubber at the bottom part of the cap. The V-shaped groove is used only for permanently cleating the tail end of the line and serves no function in making the winch self-tailing. The underside of the rubber cap applies enough pressure and friction against the final turn to hold this turn and, consequently, the previous turns in place. When the winch is cranked to bring in additional line, the pressure is increased on the final turn of the line against the rubber cap. The winch becomes self-tailing as the tail end is forced off the winch by the added line at the base of the spool while the snubbing pressure at the cap keeps the turns from slipping.
Although the "WINCHER" represents a distinct advantage over the prior art by allowing for the conversion of existing non-self-tailing to self-tailing winches at a considerably lower cost than would be required to purchase new mechanical self-tailing devices, the "WINCHER" does, nevertheless, have its own disadvantages. Foremost among these disadvantages is that the "WINCHER" does not provide a means of directing the tail end of the line off the spool at a designated spot. The springlike pressure from the disc-shaped rubber underside of the cap is effective in preventing the turns from slipping but the same cleating effect has a tendency to prevent the tail end from peeling off the winch at the same rate as more line is cranked onto the spool. By acting as a spring, the cap can allow more turns on the drum which further increases the pressure upon the cap. The end result of all of this is a tendency for the tail end of the line to be rotated into the loaded end of the line entering into the spool, thereby fouling and locking the turns.
A further disadvantage inherent in the "WINCHER" is that because of its relatively stiff heavy rubber construction, the device must be configured rather closely to a specific size winch. Thus, a relatively large number of shapes and sizes must be configured to fit the wide variety of winches having diverse shapes and dimensions in their drum/flange configuration. Currently, there are three sizes of the "WINCHER" offered which provide a relatively poor fit on many winches currently used and, resultingly, the "WINCHER" must be bonded to the spool to insure that no slippage occurs.